Markets face steep declines, Sensex ends 572 points lower

NEW DELHI: Markets on Thursday extended losses for the third straight day with the benchmark BSE Sensex crashing over 550 points amid weak rupee and global cues. The 30-share BSE index lost 572 points to close at 35,312, while the broader NSE Nifty shed 182 points to finish at 10,601.

On the BSE platform, Maruti, Tata Motors, Yes Bank, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports and Bharti Airtel were among the mojor losers, sliding as much as 4.89 per cent. The index dropped 929 points in three days.

On NSE, all the sub-indices closed in red with Nifty Metal cracking the most, down as much as 2.40 per cent.

Both the indices traded in red throughout the day and fell more than 1.5 per cent each, just a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to hold interest rates in light of easing inflation to support the economy.

The RBI kept interest rates unchanged and retained its ‘calibrated tightening’ stance on Wednesday, as widely expected, and took steps to persuade banks to lend more to help boost an economy that has lost some momentum.

RBI maintains status quo, keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.5%

Weaker Asian shares further dampened the trading sentiment. Asian shares tumbled after Canadian authorities arrested a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei for extradition to the United States, feeding fears of a fresh flare-up in tensions between the two superpowers.

Chief financial officer of China’s Huawei arrested in Canada

“Markets will remain volatile till we come out with the verdict on the state elections,” said Siddharth Sedani, head of equity advisory at brokerage firm Anand Rathi, adding that there is some nervousness from the commentary around the US-China trade spat as well.

“In terms of the monetary policy outcome, it was in line with expectations, although there were some pockets who were expecting a CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) cut which did not happen,” Sedani stated.

The rupee depreciated by 54 paise and hit the 71 per dollar-mark in early trade amid strengthening American currency and weak opening in the domestic equity market.